Insurance tips?

[daveinlim]

6 hours ago, dynax said:

 

Do you use it for commuting as that can hike up the premium by quite a bit.

Yeah I do. That's kind of the reason I have it. I got so annoyed with the tube delays, packed trains and crowd control at heaving central London stations so I bought a 125. 

It works out basically the same as my train ticket but much more enjoyable. 

 

I could put down that I don't commute or something else to lower the premium but I'd rather be above board when it comes to ever having to claim. 

[daveinlim]

6 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

I've found that 125s can be expensive to insure, with some models being more prone to theft.

 

Probably not very helpful in the short term, but once you can ride something bigger go for an older mid sized bike. They're usually cheaper to insure than a 125.

 

Engine size doesn't seem to play as big a role as I thought. I was hoping to do my DAS in 2020 but that didn't happen. 

 

I've looked at bigger bikes than my 115 once I pass and many a2 bikes are more expensive that some that are much faster. Such as cbr500 is much more expensive to insure than a sv650. Higher likelihood of theft I presume and more parts to replace in a spill I presume. 

 

I think in London the risk of theft carry more weight than the actual performance of a bike. 

[mthinesy]

Another company this morning that wont quote me. Based on living in Manchester and not garaged.

 

Beginning to think I might just buy a heap of sh*t for a year and be done with it.

[Keeper96]

47 minutes ago, mthinesy said:

Another company this morning that wont quote me. Based on living in Manchester and not garaged.

 

Beginning to think I might just buy a heap of sh*t for a year and be done with it.

Have you tried ringing Adrian flux? 

[mthinesy]

@Keeper96No, not yet. Will give them a try today at some point. Not holding out much hope!

[Pie man]

1 hour ago, mthinesy said:

Another company this morning that wont quote me. Based on living in Manchester and not garaged.

 

Beginning to think I might just buy a heap of sh*t for a year and be done with it.

Try not to be too disheartened. I think its definitely down to new bike and new rider. You can buy some really good older bikes that are just as good and if not better than some of the bikes of today. My old Beemer was over 15 years old and was a great bike to ride and cheap to insure (£95 fully comp including commuting - granted been riding for 30+ years) when I bought a new MT07 I was shocked by how much my insurance went up by. You can imagine me 'how dare they quote that I've been riding for 100yrs with NCD to boot, do they know who I am'. Take a look at some of the older bikes, you might be pleasantly surprised and good luck in your quest 

[Bender]

Lack of garage and location are conspiring against you, don't think it's the bike, I don't think I had quotes for anything over 300 when I passed.

 

Good luck.

[mthinesy]

Just tried Adrian Flux. They use the same underwriters as Triumph Insurance and Bike Sure so the quote will be the same.

 

Not going to let it get me down.

[Pie man]

Ooops, Yeah not having a garage isn't good at all. I wonder if it would make any difference if you had access to a lock up or a shared garage. 

[Bender]

12 minutes ago, Pie man said:

Ooops, Yeah not having a garage isn't good at all. I wonder if it would make any difference if you had access to a lock up or a shared garage. 

In high risk area away from house property not 

[Pie man]

17 minutes ago, Bender said:

In high risk area away from house property not 

Its a real shame when it is becomes a struggle to obtain insurance just to ride on the road legally. Everyday I see tweets from GMP commenting on how many uninsured drivers have been stopped, no bloody wonder if its this hard. 

I wouldn't have thought the area is high risk, unless its in the middle of the racecourse! 

 

Edit: should say 'reasonably priced insurance quote' 

Edited February 16, 2021 by Pie man

[daveinlim]

It's the same on London. If you're in greater London then insurance don't care if you're in millionaire row or the roughest street in the city, it's all London in their books. 

 

Wierdly, my renewal quote at MCE (which I've had to take due to lack of competition) is cheaper than what I was getting on comparison sites. £610 vs £677. Still £950 excess on a £2k bike is criminal. 

[dynax]

You could try third party only, but you would have no recourse in the event of theft, so buying a cheap shitter wouldn't be much of a loss if it does get nicked, just a pain and inconvenience

[S-Westerly]

I believe you can insure the excess for a reasonable fee. Seem to remember seeing something about it on Bennett's website?

[daveinlim]

31 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

I believe you can insure the excess for a reasonable fee. Seem to remember seeing something about it on Bennett's website?

Yeah I did that last year, I'll do the same again this year. It was £40 per £1k last time around. Probably similar again now. Definitely something to read the small print on. I nearly got stung with it once. Took nearly a year to sort out, eventually I  just claimed through my credit card company. 

Edited February 16, 2021 by daveinlim

[mthinesy]

Thanks for all the replies. I've done some digging on the postcode side of things. Where I am is in the bottom half of the Manchester stats in terms of vehicle claims per 100k. Anyway, I'll find a way. Even without a garage, the bike will be hard to take. I'm not taking security lightly.

 

On a brighter note, I'm going to have a look at my bike at the Dealership today.

[geofferz]

On 12/02/2021 at 13:09, mthinesy said:

So, Bennetts wont cover me because I'm a new rider. That was it, not the bike, or the postcode. Simply because I'm a new rider with 0 NCD and holding my license less than a year.

Really? My first 125 (0 ncd) was insured through Bennetts. This was in 2016 mind. 

[geofferz]

20 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

I believe you can insure the excess for a reasonable fee. Seem to remember seeing something about it on Bennett's website?

Yeah I'm gonna try this at renewal time - whack the excess up to like 3k 

[husoi]

Golden rule:

 

Always call the company before you pay for the insurance.

 

Just got off the phone with my current insurer and got a reduction from £125 to £104. Including the breakdown cover.

One thing I was told it makes a big impact in the premium is the declared value of the bike.

Regardless what you say the bike is worth. You will only get paid the market value. So be sensible and go as high as you know the bike will be valued at.

 

Not much but enough for a full tank  

[fullscreenaging]

I can’t remember which company it is as it was a few years ago...

I called them after getting an online quote but the girl on the end of the phone said if I go through the quote with you, it will be more than the online quote. 
I went elsewhere. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by fullscreenaging

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

When trying out all the variables recently I was surprised that having a pillion and using locks made not a jot of difference to the premium but what shocked me was the NCD (3yrs worth) made only £10-20 difference depending on the insurer. Yet it’s touted as being a big factor, so much so we’re prepared to spend extra money protecting our no claims.
 

I think insurance companies (and this is based on nothing other than messing around with all the variables online) go from purely the answers that matter- experience, postcode, where it’s kept and any claims or endorsements in the last 5 years etc. You can only use your NCD on one bike policy but that doesn’t make you more of an insurance risk as they know this. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Slowlycatchymonkey

[dynax]

It will be interesting to see what my renewel will be in a couple of months time.